Smart City

Smart City

A Smart City[81] is an urban development vision to integrate multiple information and communication technology (ICT) solutions in a secure fashion to manage a city’s assets – the city’s assets include, but not limited to, local departments information systems, schools, libraries, transportation systems, hospitals, power plants, water supply networks, waste management, law enforcement, and other community services. The goal of building a smart city is to improve quality of life by using technology to improve the efficiency of services and meet residents’ needs. ICT allows city officials to interact directly with the community and the city infrastructure and to monitor what is happening in the city, how the city is evolving, and how to enable a better quality of life. Through the use of sensors integrated with real-time monitoring systems, data is collected from citizens and devices – then processed and analyzed. The information and knowledge gathered are key to tackling inefficiency.

How does a Smart City work? A Smart City works through Sensors, Networks and a Communication system. Why is there a need for a Smart City? The percentage of global population living in cities has grown from 4% in 1800 to 93% estimated in 2050. Smart cities are important for the economy: the top 600 urban centers generate 60% of global GDP. 19% of the world’s total electricity consumption is by cities. A Smart City has low power sensors, wireless networks and mobile based applications. “Frost and Sullivan” predicted that by 2020, the Smart Cities market will be worth USD 1.5 trillion. Development and planning: 65% of cities have developed some sort of plan or strategy for international promotion of the city.

A Smarter City is a city in which BUSINESSES not people work in very DIFFERENT ways than we have worked before. As much as the industrial revolution saw huge changes in the way people socialized, worked, organized their family lives and organized their communities. The technology to make a city smarter has existed for many years. A Smart City is a collection of systems and trying to make the systems better. By system we do not only refer to IT infrastructure, but also to health, transport, utilities, water management. Everything has to come together in an interconnected way to improve the life of citizens IN the city. The police force is greatly benefited by surveillance systems, safety systems, systems that control where vehicles go, how fast they drive and all of these aspects are a part of creating a city that helps the management of a city’s safety. Many of the solutions require new ideas and new ways of thinking more than they need new technology. We’ve got the component pieces, it’s a question of working across the boundaries between organizations so that they can re-engineer the system of systems to work in a different way. It is thinking in NEW WAYS about HOW to do this. Cities are competing all around the world. The ones that will come out on top are the ones that are prepared to take action and are smart enough to work together in all the areas to gain benefit. 

Smart Cities leverage technology or serve people and are built around users. They start with an Information Network, designed to optimize resources and thereby promote sounds: Environment + Society + Economy (People friendly, Viable and Fair) = Sustainable Development. Smart Cities make cities more alive, connected streets are the core of Smart Cities. Each streetlight can gather and send information. These Smart connected streetlights open up many possibilities. Waste collection companies know how full containers are, in Real Time. Weather sensors manage automatic watering systems and detect leaks. Other sensors provide updates on air pollution, noise and river level. No need to read water or electricity meters: consumption figures will be available in real time; this also saves resources. If an accident occurs, an alert goes out immediately. Remote monitoring provides an instant update on the situation. Drivers can receive warnings on their GPS and on connected road signs. To regulate traffic flows and prevent traffic jams, traffic lights can adjust. Connected streets provide a full suite of applications. Some of the characteristics are: video management, smart lighting, WI-FI or LI-FI connections, environment stations, dynamic information, equipment accessibility, connected charging stations, remote metering, park assistance, automatic watering, connected waste containers, public toilets, transport and mobility, connected waste containers, appeal and attractions.

When we refer to Smart Cities we can also refer to the digitalization of the economy. Cities are going digital. By that we mean: Digital client, Digital community, Digital citizen, an Inclusive Digital City, visitors of the Digital City, Digital City Servants & Representatives, Technological and Organizational Preconditions, Digital City Economy, Innovative and Experimenting and Sustainable. All of these are very interesting points.

I will soon describe 10 successful Tech Hubs in different places in the world. Now a Tech Hub and a Smart City are not the same. A Tech Hub is a social community or work space or research center that provides subject-matter expertise on technology trends, knowledge and strategic innovation management, and industry-specific insights. Tech Hubs enable active knowledge transfer between researchers and business experts. It is a place where decision makers can meet and brainstorm with scientists and business experts and discuss their complex business challenges. In a Smart City[82] on the other hand, Information Communication Technology (ICT) is used to enhance quality, performance and interactivity of urban services, to reduce costs and resource consumption and to improve contact between citizens and government. It refers to the most efficient use of all the resources in the City. That includes of course infrastructure, technology, health and education systems, government, energy, mobility, retail, homes, agriculture, retail, open data, Internet of Things and all the issues discussed before, but also to make sure that the HUMAN RESOURCES are put to full use. That is what makes a city SMART.

The race for Smarter Cities has begun. Which cities will take the lead? The government can and will of course do their part, by providing infrastructure and conditions for the cities development. This can go from tax breaks to special residence permits for entrepreneurs, work places, network, etc. In the END, it is the entrepreneurs and their spirit that will make the city smart, or NOT. Digital Cities are the future, but who will digitalize a city? The government? No, it is the entrepreneurs. Nobody can replace solid, raw, classical entrepreneurship, and there can never be enough of them. In order to succeed, cities will need to be open to engineers and entrepreneurs from all over the world, and make it easy for them to establish their businesses. The cities that understand this first will surely take the lead and position themselves as world leading cities. And if you are a LEADER, that is where you want to be RIGHT NOW.